Module 1.1: Preparing to Learn Tarot
In this section we'll go over how to prepare to learn Tarot. You don't want to get lost midway through the course or confused. This section is about creating the best learning environment for your journey, what to bring to class, expectations and ethics.
Preparing to Learn Tarot using Your Intuition
Learning through experience
We're going to assume you already have a Tarot deck, perhaps a book or two, or a couple of favorite websites you visit for support on your Tarot journey. Haven't picked up your first Tarot deck yet? Here's 4 tips to finding the perfect deck.
Your deck of cards contains tens of images, 78 images to be precise. Many folks new to Tarot assume they need to memorize individual meanings for each single card. This is not the case. Learning to read Tarot is not like memorizing the vocabulary for a foreign language or the numbers of a multiplication table. Memorization is not the way. If you simply memorize the popular outputs of card meanings from google searches or popular Tarot books, you won’t really be engaging with the cards. Think of it this way…memorizing song lyrics doesn’t teach you how to write your own music.
Learning Tarot is a little more like…driving a car. Sure shifting into drive and pushing the gas pedal will make the vehicle move forward, but the driver uses their eyes, body, and intuitive judgement in order to push the gas or brake pedals with just the right amount of pressure for the desired speed. Minor adjustments to the steering wheel are made in order to guide the direction of travel.
For folks without driving experience, it’s a little like riding a bike. Sitting on the seat and pushing the pedals gets a bike to go, but learning how hard and how fast to push the pedals and how to turn takes time and experience. The same analogy can be said of many things like cooking, drawing, or even learning how to use a computer and the internet. There are plenty of textbooks, videos and instructors able to show how to do those activities, but it takes practice and experience to learn them.
Each time you read a Tarot spread, your Tarot reading skills will improve.
Create space and time to learn Tarot
Learning Tarot takes Time and Space
You’ll get the basics from this course, but the richness of understanding and using Tarot will come from practice over a long period of time. Each reading session can take between 30 minutes to an hour. You can always do a 30 second reading, but you’re not really honoring your intent, intuition, or the card’s guidance by buzzing through the interpretation. While you are learning, you’ll need a little extra time. With more practice, you’ll get faster, more information, and deeper meaning. But take it one step at a time and take all of the steps. For the intent of this course, I recommend setting aside an hour for each section.
Learning and reading Tarot takes space. You need space to sit, space to spread out your cards, space for your notebook, journal, or computer. You’ll need a flat surface to place everything on. You can do and learn Tarot anywhere, but make sure you have enough space to do it. You’ll want to make sure your space is clean. Most of the cards are made out of cardstock paper. If the cards get wet, they’ll be damaged forever. Stains can be distracting.
When you set an intent to set aside time to learn and a space for learning, your focus will become stronger with each lesson. Being free from distraction is more than just turning off the television, or turning your cell phone on silent for a little while. Consider also setting aside any emotions or thinking that isn’t going to help you learn.
If you feel emotionally distraught, perhaps from a fight or a bad day at work, try to find calm before engaging with your lessons. If you are worried about something or compulsively thinking about something….then maybe now is not the time for Tarot. If you are distracted in your heart and mind, you might not get all of the information or practice you need from the lesson. Creating focus and breaking away from consuming thoughts and emotions will be discussed throughout the course. There are ways to create or “trigger” calm focused attention, but like most things it needs to be learned and practiced to be effective.
What to bring to class?
A Journal, A Deck, and A Good Book
A journal or notebook is very helpful, not just for the initial stages of learning but for your lifetime of working with Tarot. You can bring a physical notebook or prepare a document on your computer. You will want a way to record some of your readings, what you are learning, questions you have and resources you want to follow up on. You’re about to receive a huge amount of information that may be nearly impossible to memorize and remember all at once. Keeping good notes will reinforce what you have learned and will serve your future self if you have a question that can be answered from your past self.
A deck is rather necessary to learn Tarot. You’ll bond with your deck over time. You can work with one deck or multiple decks, although having a primary deck to start with is advised. Each deck will have its own lessons and nuances that you might want to take note of in your journal. Having the deck in front of you while learning will help you to connect with the cards.
Any book that came with the deck will be helpful along the way. The writer and artist had an intent while creating the deck. If a symbol on a card is unfamiliar to you, it’s possible that the accompanying book will explain its meaning.
Why do you want to learn Tarot?
Understand your intent for learning Tarot and your expectations
Before you begin learning the card meanings, it’s helpful to understand why you want to learn Tarot in the first place. If you have a focused reason for learning Tarot, then you will be able to learn the nuances of reading faster and easier.
Many people learn how to read Tarot for themselves, to help guide their daily decisions. Some people want to learn Tarot with the intent of reading for friends and family. Others want to read Tarot as a profession. Perhaps you’re interested in the psychology or parapsychology aspects of Tarot, or maybe you love storytelling. There are many reasons to learn Tarot. There are thousands of books out there about Tarot, so if you know in advance your specific interest, you can guide your independent study in a direction that is most meaningful to you. And to repeat a sentiment from the section about buying cards...if you love what you are learning and doing, you’ll be able to do it better.
Perhaps now is the best time to discuss what the Tarot is not. If you are hear because you want to predict the future, you will be disappointed. The Tarot is not the best medium for predicting outcomes, and predicting the future generally speaking is dependent upon what you believe. Do you think the future is predetermined? If something is going to happen anyway and the future is outside of our control, why bother predicting it?
I believe in a balance of free will and common sense. Although the future is not yet fully formed and we have control over our daily choices, there are some things that shape what choices we have to make. The Tarot then is a great tool for *guiding possibilities*. In the end, you still have to make your own choices, think your thoughts, and take action. Tarot can help you see new possible courses of action to take and the consequences of known choices. Each Tarot reader develops their own philosophy about fate. You may be surprised by how your beliefs about the fate and future change as you learn to read the Tarot.
On credibility and ethics
Myths and Stereotypes hurt
There is an unfortunate amount of misinformation and stereotyping about divination, Tarot, psychics, and anything metaphysical. There are a couple of reasons for this. Divination largely falls under parapsychology or psychology in terms of how it works. More on that later. Tarot is not recognized as being connected to the “real world” in a way. And that’s unfortunate because Tarot and other forms of divination can be complementary tools to therapy, counseling and integrative medicine.
Tarot is not recognized for its therapeutic effects, therefore it’s not regulated. Tarot masters did not have to go to school. Tarot readers do not have to be reviewed, certified or tested in anyway. Readers are not required to adhere to any policies or regulations. This leaves the market place open to individuals and organizations who do not have your interest at heart. Without a way to regulate the psychic or divinatory industries, there’s a whole lot of harmful gunk that gets in the way of helpful instruction and truly powerful services.
Many of us expect (and some of us hope for) regulations to develop in the future as the psychic industry grows. Until then, be weary of the information you come across. Try to find resources that are identified as reputable within the Tarot community. Many Tarot scholars and masters are alive today and they offer training materials, books, and services that are founded in diligent research and years of experience. These masters and professionals have developed voluntary codes of ethics that protect clients and readers.
While you are on your Tarot journey, you may wish to develop your own code of ethics. It may take some time and tinkering to find what limitations, rights and responsibilities work best for you and your practice. But as a client of other Tarot readers, you have a right to expect that your best interests are in mind when you’re receiving a reading. Here are some questions and notes on ethics you may wish to discuss when you are giving or receiving a reading:
Does the reader make wild claims?
If the reader’s promotional literature or correspondence absolutely guarantees to make you rich, find your soulmate, or any too-good-to-be-true statement, you may want to move on. The majority of professional and reliable readers will never make such sensational claims. All readers should provide some note on topics they can and what they cannot read about. Tarot readers are not a replacement for financial advisors, medical professionals, or legal advice. Tarot can be an amazing complimentary therapeutic device that can strengthen your relationship with your professional advisors in those fields. But it’s so important to tell your advisors that you are also using Tarot so they can understand where some of your ideas and actions are coming from and plan your treatments or advising sessions accordingly.
What do you think about the future?
It’s a big philosophical question that will come up again and again. Is the future pre-determined, or is it yet to be formed? I personally believe that the future is not predetermined and that our free will allows us to shape the possibilities of the future with our actions and intentions in the present.
A great Tarot reader or intuitive advisor will equip you with the information and tools you need to shape the future you want. It will be up to you to accept that information and act upon it, so that your future is always in your control. If a reader claims to see the future and tells you….don’t do this, do do that because XYZ will happen...it doesn’t give you much control or power to do anything but sit back and wait for it to happen. Some readers are more in tune with the collective conscious (more on that later) than other, and may have better insight with how the picture of today is already shaping tomorrow. But there are still many factors that can disrupt her vision of the future at any time.
What about “third-party” readings?
This means providing insight on a person who is not the reader or the client. The most common example about this happens with romantic relationships. Does he love me? Is she cheating on me? Will we ever be together (again)? This is very similar to trying to predict the future. These types of readings often do not put you in a position of control. The only thing you can control in life is you….you control your thoughts, emotions and actions.
From a purely ethical standpoint on behalf of the third person, reading potential subconscious or conscious thoughts, emotions and intentions without permission is an invasion of privacy. Even if the reader is correct, you won’t be able to get inside the head of the other person, and generally a direct confrontation will be the only way to confirm or resolve a situation.
A more empowering reading would provide you with techniques and affirmations to build your self-confidence that inspires you to pursue the information from the third party directly. Even if you do not get the information, or you don’t get the information you want, you can still walk away from an intimate conversation preserving your confidence and dignity. Our hunger for love and success inspires us to do things we may not otherwise do. It’s the exertion of our will over this appetite that allows us to move forward stronger and wiser. A reader who is in alignment with that sort of philosophy will have a greater impact on your reading together.
